Lenzing to offtake power from 5.5-MWp solar project in Austria

Austrian wood-based specialty fibres maker Lenzing AG (VIE:LNZ) will procure the electricity from a 5.5-MWp solar park that green power producer Enery and power company Energie Steiermark are set to build in the state of Styria.

The electricity will be supplied under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA), the companies said last week.

Subscribe for Renewables Now's Corporate PPA Newsletter here for free!

Enery and Energie Steiermark will build the solar plant on an area of 50,000 sq m in the Frauental municipality with construction work set to begin this year. Once up and running in April 2023, the park will be capable of producing 6 GWh of clean power per year which corresponds to the annual consumption of about 1,800 households.

The project requires an investment of about EUR 4.4 million (USD 4.42m).

“In order to reduce our carbon emissions even further in line with our strategic targets, we aim in the future to rely to an even greater extent on electricity generated from renewable energies," said Lenzing's chief executive Stephan Sielaff.

As part of these efforts, the specialty fibres provider is installing several photovoltaic systems at its site in Lenzing, Upper Austria, where its head office is located. The commissioning of the largest ground-mounted plant is imminent.

"Concepts such as these will make us less dependent on global energy markets in the medium to long term and further support our transition from a linear to a circular economy model,” Sielaff added.

Lenzing, which pursues a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, is greening not only its operations at home. The company has switched to clean energy in Indonesia where its subsidiary PT. South Pacific Viscose (SPV) has been using renewable power since July.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.005)